# Total Office Manager Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Total Office Manager the right Electrical Contractor solution for you? Explore 48 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/80729/Total-Office-Manager/reviews --- Total Office Manager 3.7 (48) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/80729/Total-Office-Manager/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Total Office Manager Ease of use 3.8 Customer Service 3.8 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews NV Noah V SVP, Special ProjectsOil & Energy, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “With an outstanding and knowledgeable support staff and step-by-step videos that can be found on YouTube I found that what I originally thought was a nightmare waiting to happen turned into a very simple and outstanding addition to our company.“ July 14, 2020 CC Christy C Office ManagerConstruction, 11 - 50 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Understaffed tech support that closes at 4pm central including when the server went down on us. “ February 11, 2021 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 48 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use VR Verified Reviewer Customer Service Rep Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "TOM review" May 13, 2019 4.0 We are processing all service call work orders and invoicing through TOM. It's been working fairly well and is nice to be able to email invoices direct to customers through TOM and Mobile application. Pros It has flat rate and t&m capabilities for techs in the field via Mobile application. We had used Aptora's flat rate program via printed books in the past, which was a plus for our techs, and TOM integrates with Flat Rate Plus. Cons Training of the techs has been rocky; I would recommend having an Aptora rep come to your business to train in person. We tried live training via web, but found it was difficult to keep all techs at same pace to keep up with trainer. Review Source TB Tony B. President Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best software on the market!" January 3, 2022 5.0 Overall Total Office Manager has allowed me to run my business very efficiently. I am grateful to have this software available to me. Pros I love all the features and the ability you have in the software to run your business any way you choose. I love the support you receive from everyone at Total Office Manager. I love how I only have to worry about one software to run my business. All my accounting info is in Total Office Manager. Cons They are missing a customer portal for approving estimates or making payments. Not a big deal as I know they are working on it and hopefully will be available soon. Reason for choosing Total Office Manager They seemed more open and honest. Review Source C&AH Chris & Annaliza H. Owner Retail Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Oh how things change! Was great while paying the money, but now, crash and burn sucka!" November 12, 2019 1.0 At the beginning TOM was great, sure it had small issues that I was certain would be addressed and everything would improve, but that is all wrong.. They spent lots of time and money making a stupid message reporting system so they could search if anybody was texting a bad word to somebody else, and you could make a pie chart of how many times somebody said one stupid word or another LoL. Meanwhile, TOM continued to get more bloated, top heavy, and cluttered with more crap and less organization. I made countless pleas to consolidate and organize menu's to be more consistent with each other even gave detailed mathematical examples of how many hours over the course of a year could be saved to make the software better and how to better streamline menus, but excuses were made to avoid any improvements after I proved without any doubt efficiency could be increased. Aptora wasnt interested. Eventually I was having problems with my TOM and I wanted to upgrade to the latest version. The rep I talked to was a nube, It was a Friday and I had a lot of catch up work, so they took my money and had no more interest in making sure anything worked.. I told nube dont run off till the registration error is fixed. Nube told me it will be later, after everybody is gone. Well no it didnt. I was screwed all weekend scrambling with work arounds and Monday they called ready to help, but I was up all night all weekend and demanded a refund, now they are pissed and dont want to take my money anymore.. Pros Local server, can do a lot, have loads of things on one screen by having line items occupy a small space rather than most cloud or others that little information occupies much screen real estate. Cons Cluttered, chaotic GUI with the right click menus inconsistent with each other. Mobile app operates differently than Total office manager. For example, when making a change to an invoice in TOM, TOM then goes behind our back and completes the invoice without saying or asking if we want the invoice to be completed.. I have constantly suggested to fix the problem, it has cost us much, but they said thats the way it is suppose to operate while Mobile on the other hand, will ask you with a pop up window, if you want the invoice to be completed, I suppose thats the way mobile is suppose to operate as well, completely different than TOM, When I say "mobile" its like a new arm to TOM that likes to slap you in the face occasionally.. TOM and Aptora mobile compete with each other rather than integrate with each other.. The schedule board for example, there is a new and an old, you can use either one, they work quite differently from each other.. There is an old schedule board, which is a lot faster than the new one and integrates well with TOM, and the new one seems like its a completely different transition into a completely different operating system. The SQL server setup utility is pretty much a complete fraud by claiming capabilities it does NOT have.. Not sure why that utility keeps getting worse over time, but not a single attempt has been made to fix the "enterprise server utility" but rather work arounds have been created without instructions.. Reason for choosing Total Office Manager I chose TOM first because it was locally based and not the cloud Review Source Response from Aptora November 14, 2019 We are sorry you feel this way about the decision to discontinue service to your company. At times it becomes necessary to protect our employees when a customer violates the terms of our EULA. We take the safety of our company and employees very seriously. AaCH Annaliza and Chris H. Manager Consumer Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "All in one, fully loaded" October 5, 2018 5.0 As Somebody who has been dealing with dispatching software since the mid 90’s and then management software as a whole from 2001, I have tried many many different options. Aptora is my personal favorite. It has a very easy 3rd party billing like I’ve never seen. Over all, even with the little things that bug me, I can’t see ever changing. Updates are good and improvements are continuous and enhancements are well thought out. Pros I like it’s completness, and the fact I can buy it and not rent it except for the map, I don’t rent that, but I think there is a very very small single digit rental fee just to pay google last time I checked. Business coaches and franchises always say when you start a business think of an exit strategy, but if they recommend something like service Titan which screwed up my entire business, I was forced to use it for franchise by dwyer group, don’t get me started, or any other cloud based service management software, then they are hypocrites. Cloud based software had my business hostage, I don’t care what they offer, nothing is good enough to allow someone else to posses and charge me rent for my heart of operations. I could infiltrate a cloud based software company, set up shop next to a successful business, spy on everything they do, and then put them out of business because they might have been smart in business but stupid with software by using the cloud. Don’t get me started. With aptora it has its own exit strategy built in, when u execute exit strategy Aptora adds a serious value to the business as a whole to be an asset and NOT a cloud based liability. I suspect franchises don’t say that because they want to watch your every move. If I had a business coach recommending cloud based software, I would get a different one. Yeah they say u can download database but just wait till u try it, then try to organize it or do anything with it LoL. I can also see profit per tech Cons There are a few lose ends with so much going on, no big deal, just a little bit of too much stuff on the mobile for techs to look at, much of the menu items will never be used by techs, but that’s not a deal breaker. Picture upload from mobile should be a background operation rather than having to wait for upload to complete.. Total office manager still has a little bit of a DOS feel to it and doesn’t have the option to save the desktop so when signing in we can get all of our favorite windows up and in place. And when making adjustments to an invoice, even just the memo, total office manager will complete the work order without anybody knowing unlike mobile will ask first if u want to mark work order as complete with a pop window, so a little inconsistency in operation. And renting the mapping goes against non cloud based concept in my opinion.. I think Aptora should set up a deal with Garmin and dump google maps completely. Garmin owns the skies in gps, they aren’t going anywhere. At least all the cons are minor small things. Review Source JS Jon S. President Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Software With Helpful Support" May 9, 2020 5.0 This software has changed the way we do business. As the owner of a smaller company, I don't have time to create reports from various data. TOM has been a game changer for us in getting real time reports with the data we need. We have been able to make so much better business decisions quickly because of this. We utilize it for accounting, payroll, inventory control, dispatch, flat rate, marketing and so much more. I believe It could take you years to realize the full potential of this software. One of the best business decisions we have made in 22 years in business. Pros We used to use multiple software platforms for accounting, inventory, dispatching, etc.. The problem was there was either no integration or not helpful integration. We did a demo with several companies and graded them on what we were wanting to have the software do. Aptora was the only one that hit all of the marks. It has proven itself, in the little over 2 years we have used it, to be exactly what we were looking for. The customer support when we have a problem has been great. I would definitely recommend this software to anyone looking to streamline their business. Cons It does take several users to get the most out of the software. We have dedicated dispatch, warehouse, admin and accounting people so it works for us. Since you can customize the software and use it in so many different ways, establishing YOUR process is extremely important. If you don't, you will spend a large amount of time fixing things. I say this from experience. However those are user issues, not software issues. When updates are pushed out, sometimes something will break and you don't find it until days or weeks later. They are good about fixing the problem and providing a way to fix your data. Review Source SS Steve S. Operations Manager Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Flexible, Feature Rich, Mobile User Support for Field Techs, Great Value, Solid Support" May 13, 2019 4.0 I have installed numerous, integrated software systems for various type of companies (manufacturers, professionals, educational organizations, service companies, insurance, etc.) over the past 30 years. I understand the VALUE they bring to the table, and I understand the difficulty of launching company-wide software systems. The long-term gain is well worth the cost of short-term pain. TOM is a tool that will enable you to examine many aspects of your business. It will provide you with data that allows you to make informed decisions regarding your company's current performance and future direction. The most important benefit that TOM brought us is the ability to perform job costing. It has enabled us to truly figure out what types of work we perform well, and what types we don't perform well. Additionally, the ability to stop using multiple pieces of non-integrated software from different vendors to manage our business … dispatching, quoting, inventory control, financials, field service tech invoicing … and handle all of those functions in one package is a HUGE advantage. There is a steep learning curve with a software system this complex, but the end results is very, very good. Aptora is a great company with which to partner, especially when you are working to grow your business as we are. I highly recommend Total Office Manager and it's companion products such as Mobile II and Form Builder. Their system is a great value. Pros Total Office Manager (TOM) is a feature-rich software system. It is a fully integrated system that won't require me to run multiple, discrete pieces of software to manage my business. We can manage our inventory in multiple warehouses, process our financials (including job cost analysis), link our field techs directly into our financial and inventory systems in real-time, handle all of our dispatching and scheduling needs, and easily export data into Excel for in-depth analysis. All that and more wrapped up in on package! Cons Because of the flexibility of the system, it takes a while to get all of the settings and features figured out in order to best fit your business. It was a bit of a long-term struggle, at times, to get there, but we are now pleased with the end result (have been using TOM for 15 months). Review Source CH Chris H. President Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Just Crossed the 2 Year Mark" July 29, 2021 5.0 Outstanding. You will not be upset with the move. You may be frustrated during the transition and team training, but the end results are worth it. Pros The software is like others in that it will only give you what you put into it. The software takes awhile to learn, but is intuitive. The entire company is using Total Office Manager as our backbone for communication and data information. It's really nice to be able to pull any data, CRM, Accounting, Financial, Trucks, etc. from one place. The team at Aptora is also easy to work with. Cons Like all software, there is a learning curve. Expect a year or more to fully integrate it into your business. Reason for choosing Total Office Manager \[SENSITIVE CONTENT\] are outstanding. They will tip your decision from any other software. Review Source BD Bill D. VP, GM Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Aptora, good and not so good. " May 13, 2019 4.0 I still like the program because I see the potential. After having the program over 5 years, we still only use a percentage of the program that we should but again, that is mostly on us. I have hired a few people that their main objective was to learn and utilize the program. We are getting better but it is taking too long. We did look at other software this past winter that was far easier to use but is limited in what it could do. I do wonder if sometimes we are too optimistic in thinking one day we will use it as it should be. But were not ready to quit yet. Pros It has a ton of potential but is not for everyone. If utilized as designed, it is a great tool to help run your business efficiently and track financials. Cons My bookkeeper and wife, who used to do our books before she was deployed with the US Navy, are not to thrilled with the accounting portion. They are ok with it, but like QB a lot better. I have no say since I am not versed in either. As well, we are too slow to utilize many of the functions due to lack of training, which I blame mostly on us. Your cost to train is rather expensive so I would like to see either a 3rd party trainer available or even an open forum amongst other users of your product. You do have a lot of glitches also but to be fair, seem to take care of them rather quickly. Review Source CT Christopher T. President Consumer Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Consider other options" May 13, 2020 2.0 VERY FRUSTRATING. Pros Plenty of reporting, lots of customization. A total office solution if you are staffed and equipped to go all in. Cons Software always has problems, never fully works, they are always updating every week to fix previous bugs and glitches only to introduce new bugs and glitches. Nice concept but the programming isn't there. I would recommend going with another option. I'm only still using it because I spent so much money on it. They are trying to keep up with the jones' and become something they're not. Software is suppose to automate process and make you more efficient not create new problems that shouldn't exist. Consider other options as I feel they are trying to squeeze customers into their cloud services which is probably their ultimate solution because they cant get it right with the server based product. Reason for choosing Total Office Manager I heard of some previous companies using it and it seemed ;ike something we could grow into. Perhaps we still can if they get with the program!! Review Source BB Brian B. President Medical Devices Used the software for: 2+ years ### "TOM = Total Office Mess!" May 31, 2019 1.0 Very, very poor. We're been using this program since 2011 and they still haven't solve basic inventory accounting problems/bugs. We totally regret going with this company. Pros Advertised Inventory Features - unfortunately most are inaccurate and/or do not function properly or accurately. Cons \- WIP account value changes for past locked out date - Inventory Trial Balance does not match Inventory Valuation Reports. (We cannot trust our inventory financials with this program!) - For the longest time their Inventory Assemblies Module did not work and have false inventory values. In working with Technical Support they admitted that they had a fundamental flaw in their programming that they were struggling to identify and fix. - We spent tens of thousands of dollars using out Accountant and in-house bookkeeping to correct doctors values reported by this program. - After all this, Aptora is making us pay for Technical Support to correct bugs in their software that we've identified. Review Source NV Noah V. SVP, Special Projects Oil & Energy Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Aptora Support team, second to none!" July 14, 2020 5.0 Positive experience, especially support staff. Pros With an outstanding and knowledgeable support staff and step-by-step videos that can be found on YouTube I found that what I originally thought was a nightmare waiting to happen turned into a very simple and outstanding addition to our company. Cons at first glance looked a bit overwhelming. Review Source JS Jana S. owner-office manager Business Supplies and Equipment Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Total Office Manager Review" May 13, 2019 4.0 I like that everything is in one program. Pros The schedule board and the accounting/invoicing Cons Too many problems with updates, generating statements, reports. We would really like for the calls on the schedule board to be color-coded when invoiced in some way. Review Source JL Jason L. Service manager Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Overall really pleased!" June 2, 2019 5.0 Pros Any thing you want to get to is just 3 clicks away Cons Need more help, training for such a robust product can’t send all 30 employees to training and group training is always productive Review Source AM Armando M. Parts Mgr Facilities Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Aptora Review" May 13, 2019 4.0 Pros Easy to use. Scheduling is great. Very convenient. Cons Spinning wheel of death once you start to type. Software easily confused Review Source SB Shelley B. VP/CFO Construction Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Support" May 13, 2019 4.0 Pros The software in itself is a good product. Easy to use Cons Freezing, speed and customer support. Response time for tickets is slow and paid for a product 5 months ago and still do not have it finished Review Source SW Shelley W. Billing Specialist/Dispatch Assistant Facilities Services Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "HVAC company user" May 31, 2019 3.0 Pros Easy to navigate and learn. For the most part it is user friendly. Cons There are speed bumps, definitely needs some work but with some adjustments can be a great product. Review Source SM Stephen M. President Facilities Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Sad but true" January 6, 2025 1.0 Disappointing and expensive. Tens of thousands of dollars and no software activation. Finally lost confidence and Trust. Pros Thought it was the solution to our quickbooks dislike. Cons They were unable to meet any of the three deadline 1-24, 2-24 , 12-24 to get us activated. Alternatives considered [SAP Business One](https://www.capterra.com/p/214667/SAP-Business-One/) Reason for choosing Total Office Manager Pricing was a consideration, and the sales job given. Switched from [QuickBooks Desktop](https://www.capterra.com/p/212058/QuickBooks-Desktop-Pro/) Looking for and all in one software. that did not glitch when transferring data Review Source Response from Aptora January 10, 2025 We’re truly sorry to hear about your dissatisfaction, Stephen. We understand that software migration can be complex, and it seems there was some confusion between the preliminary migration, final migration, and the go-live date. Implementing new software can be challenging with only an owner and dispatcher who have limited tech knowledge. For example, this customer was upset that Microsoft Family 365 couldn’t sync with Total Office Manager, which is unrelated to Aptora’s software. Our technician explained that a Microsoft Business 365 account is required for this integration. To support you, we provided several accommodations, including a $1,200 ticket to Aptora University and a free rushed migration service valued at $8,000. At Aptora, we value more the relationship with our clients, not just the financial aspect and for that reason we offer a cancel-anytime policy. We would love to discuss how we can better support you moving forward. BB Batbara B. Manager Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "This software is all you need!" January 5, 2022 5.0 It’s a big program so expect big things, but also expect to spend time leaning, implementing, modifying to get even bigger results. Pros Aptora is always listening to their customers and keeping the software current and updated. Customer service is amazing! It is our “does it all” program that meets and exceeds our demands. Cons So many options on how to do things sometimes is a little frustrating. Hind site is always 20/20 Leaning how the process you chose affect other aspects of the program. This is a pro also though Review Source HG Heather G. Vice President Construction Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "The Literal One-Stop Shop for a Service Company" January 6, 2022 5.0 Pros I like so many things about this software I literally cannot list one. Dispatching, Estimating, the Sales Opportunity Manager (!!!), the Schedule Board... my list could go on for days. Cons The migration process is bumpy (we are on day 3 of using the software, training since September). I would suggest spending the extra money on bringing someone to your location for your Go Live week... be sure to plan this up front rather than waiting. Alternatives considered [SuccessWare](https://www.capterra.com/p/106274/SuccessWare/)[Salesforce Sales Cloud](https://www.capterra.com/p/61368/Salesforce/) Reason for choosing Total Office Manager It is a one-stop-shop. Switched from [Viewpoint Spectrum](https://www.capterra.com/p/175831/Spectrum/) I hate everything about Spectrum. Not a good fit for a service company our size Review Source Bradford M. Service Manager Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "SLOW" December 18, 2018 2.0 We'll stick with APTORA since we're so invented in it. There are other softwares available but none do everything that APTORA does. You'd have to use at least two different ones. Pros This software can do SO much! For a service company with multiple field techs it is great! It brought us up to the modern age with digital invoicing in the field and real time inventory management. Cons It is slow! The queries, reports, item lists, just about anything that has to do with a data base is horrible! We've got so really high horsepower machines running this and it is always either crashing or hanging! Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Job Specialist Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Outgrowing Aptora" May 13, 2019 2.0 We started using TOP several years ago and while it was a good change at the time, we have outgrown it. Aptora is made for retail work, and is simply a bad fit for long-term commercial projects. Pros Aptora's greatest strength is how information dominoes. Once you have a client set up, making an estimate, work order, or PO with the same information is quick and consistent. I also like that there is a mobile platform for field employees. Cons The software is extremely unreliable. With every update, a new feature (a needed report, for example) becomes unusable and disrupts our SOP. Job costing is slow and tedious, and does not give PMs accurate, real-time job performance. Review Source Response from Aptora May 20, 2019 We are sorry to hear through your review that you are not satisfied with Total Office Manager's performance. We do strive to make service software that grows with companies and be a tool that helps make them more profitable. Please also know that we are very concerned with customer satisfaction and if we can discuss any ways that we can make your experience better we happy to do so. JG James G. Vice President Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Total Office Manager is Awesome!" May 13, 2019 5.0 We have been using TOM since 2007, at that time i personally had no software training and was a working owner that still had my tool belt on. It was very simple to learn this program and that can be an issue i know for owners that transition form the field to the office. Pros The ease of the program is outstanding, we can be working on an accounts payable entry and within a couple of clicks we will be on our schedule board setting up a service call. The program has everything in one place so there is no importing or exporting to get your accounting to show up, truly a simple program that does everything we need it to. Cons I cant think of anything that we do not like, there are a few reports that we do outside of the program but we are working on our end to be able to do them inside of TOM. The ability is there but the way we setup our technician time tracking is limiting us form getting good billable reports, again this is something that we did when we set the program up. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Accounting Manager Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Many Features, More Needed" May 17, 2019 4.0 With our previous software we could not view history of items or invoices with ease or even at all. Aptora we can find quickly if something hasn't been invoiced to a customer or anything else really. There are many features we have yet to start using even after almost 3 years, but within 6 months we were almost fully up and running when we first started. I feel the company listens to our requests for features, we would just like to see them come to life a little sooner. Pros My favorite thing about Aptora is it's ease. Within just a couple clicks you can find the history on almost anything. This abilities allows us to ensure everything is being taken care of from start to finish. Cons 1) Average cost. The software does not allow us to chose a different method like LIFO and FIFO. Not every company works on Average Cost and it causes a LOT of extra work on our end to keep it "fixed" as we work off LIFO costs. 2) Proper inventory management between branches. It's a little convoluted the way we have to keep up with it. Review Source GL Gene L. President/Mechanical Engineer Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Administrative Review" May 13, 2019 3.0 We use the mobile application and has saves many hours daily for office and field staff. Needs work but Aptora is updating frequently. Pros I feel software is quit easy to train new staff in their field of use. Support is excellent and updates are very frequent. Seems that Aptora management is responsive to the changing requirements of clients Cons Inventory is the weakest section of Aptora. It has improved considerably over the past couple of years. Aptora does not have ability to buy in one unit of measure and sell in another. Pipe is often purchased by 20' length and sold by foot. this is not possible in Aptora. Managing specific vender part numbers for venders is difficult requiring multiple screens and many keystrokes. Viewing the different vender parts numbers is almost impossible. Pictures of product should be on main page of parts form, but requires several keystroke to view. Review Source RH Roger H. General Manager Consumer Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Have Been Using It For Over 7 Years" May 25, 2019 5.0 Our overall experience has been incredible, and I highly recommend it. Pros Total Office Manager has drastically improved the efficiency of our business. The all-in-one functionality is the biggest advantage. We previously used 3 different programs before switching years ago. It is extremely user friendly, and we have found that new employees catch on very quickly. If you have a desire to learn more about any feature there are numerous training videos available. Their tech support staff are easy to get in touch with, and the people great to deal with, should an issue arise. Cons As others have indicated already the frequent updates periodically cause an issue with other functions. However I greatly appreciate that they are continuing to make the software better for the users, and they are quick to respond and correct the issues. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox.